KFC jibe at McDonald’s with Trump parody tweet

The rivalry between fast food giants has taken on a strange political twist: KFC has aped Donald Trump’s message to Kim Jong-un, in an attempt to feud with McDonald’s.

It is the latest in a growing history of retailers, particularly fast food chains, attempting to appeal to people on social media, particularly through pithy tweets.

On Wednesday KFC’s UK and Ireland Twitter account posted a parody tweet boasting its burger was larger than those at McDonald’s.

“McDonald’s leader Ronald just stated he has a ‘burger on his desk at all times’,” the post read.

“Will someone from his big shoed, red nosed regime inform him that I too have a burger on my desk, but mine is a box meal which is bigger and more powerful than his, and mine has gravy! #nuclearbutton”

McDonald’s leader Ronald just stated he has a “burger on his desk at all times”. Will someone from his big shoed, red nosed regime inform him that I too have a burger on my desk, but mine is a box meal which is bigger and more powerful than his, and mine has gravy! #nuclearbutton

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

‘Cluckbait’

So far, the battle of the corporate tweets has been one-sided, with no response from McDonald’s. However, KFC’s tweet was shared more than 180,000 times and liked more than 475,000 times within 48 hours.

It is not the first time KFC have gained notoriety on social media, either. In October 2017, eagle-eyed Mike Edgett highlighted the 11 people followed by KFC in a tweet which has since been retweeted more than 300,000 times.

But there have also been countless examples of failed attempts at social media marketing.

In October, Saudi Arabian Twitter users called for a boycott of Pizza Hut after the restaurant’s Twitter account published an advertisement which appeared to mock people with a speech impediment.

Image copyrightPizza Hut Saudi/Twitter

The advert began with the hashtag #Global_Day_of_Stammering and introduced an offer for pizza, but punctuated the accompanying message with repeated letters and syllables to mimic a stammer or stutter.

Pizza Hut deleted the offending tweet and apologised but by then the hashtag #I_am_boycotting_Pizza_Hut had been used more than 48,000 times.

In December 2017, Poundland posted its Christmas advertising campaign on Twitter showing images of a toy elf in suggestive poses.